Wilson: Sharks' tough 'D' shows he hasn't lost team

Coach shrugs off discussion of his job security, citing the stats

SAN JOSE  Sharks coach Ron Wilson knows that his name has been kicked around in the hockey media at various points this season as someone who needs to be worried about his job.

He routinely shrugs that off. And Tuesday, he used his team's strong play in its own zone  second fewest goals allowed, second fewest shots allowed  to help explain why.

"If we were bad defensively, yeah, I'd be, 'It's me,'" Wilson said. "The only way you can play defense is if you have a team committed to doing something. If I've lost the whole team, why are we playing so well defensively?"

That's not to say Wilson and his staff don't examine how they can better press home a point with players.

"You go in there and you're always trying to figure out as a coach, 'Are they listening? Are they getting this? What are we going to do to change how we prepare?'" Wilson said. "That stuff's there."

Wilson was holding court after Tuesday's practice. Job security was a logical topic because, while reporters waited outside his office, Wilson and Sharks CEO Greg Jamison conferred behind closed doors for more than an hour.

As it turned out, Wilson said, Jamison was there to pick his brain before the NHL Board of Governors meetings that start Thursday at Pebble Beach. Rule changes are always up for discussion, and Jamison wanted Wilson's sense of what needed to be done.

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That part of the conversation didn't take long  just go back to the higher standard of enforcement in place right after the lockout, Wilson recommended. But Jamison had been traveling and there were other matters to discuss.

None of them foreboding, according to Jamison.

"Grandchildren, global politics, some hockey  we were all over the map," the Sharks CEO said.

Questions about Wilson's coaching status first came up shortly after the Sharks were eliminated by Detroit in the playoffs last spring. In his first post-mortem, general manager Doug Wilson declined the opportunity to endorse his coach. That came a week later.

More recently, the GM said earlier this month that, if the Sharks continued to struggle, a coaching change "was certainly not the first place we'd look" for a shake-up.

The topic came up again Tuesday. Several national hockey writers are stopping in San Jose en route to the governors' meeting and two  both of whom predicted the Sharks would win the Stanley Cup  were in Wilson's office asking about high expectations and the so-so season that has followed.

Much of the coach's dissection of the situation  shifts that go on too long, the power play  was familiar. But he did talk in greater detail about the effort this season to have players hold each other accountable.

Right now, Wilson said, he is backing off a little bit to let "those guys fight it out in the room over what they're supposed to be doing, and not be hearing me come in mad at the end of every period."

That's worked to improve defensive play, he said, and now they need to get mad at themselves "for not digging in and scoring goals and going into dangerous areas to do the job. That's all we've got to do. If we do that, we're going to be fine, I'm convinced of it."

Wilson said those inside the organization have patience  unlike some in the media.

He talked of getting a call from a Canadian television reporter who asked if it's time to break up the Sharks if they don't win it all this year.

"Break up the team? We're putting ourselves in a position to win the Stanley Cup," Wilson said. "There's still a lot of things we've got to learn. We have experiences to gain. We're going to be patient.

"It's not what everybody's expectations are," he added. "It's we'll win when we're ready to win."